The UC Berkeley Natural History Field Stations are delighted to announce “The Carol Baird Graduate Student Award for Field Research.” Awards will be granted to UC Berkeley graduate students to support high quality research that is carried out primarily in the field, based in or around these Berkeley’s Natural History Field Stations:

Angelo Coast Range Reserve
Blue Oak Ranch Reserve
Hastings Natural History Reservation
Point Reyes Field Station
Sagehen Creek Field Station

The first competition will support field research by UC Berkeley graduate students beginning in 2018. Proposals of up to 5 pages (total), describing the project, its importance, and proposed methods and logistics, must be submitted by September 30, 2017 to fieldstations@berkeley.edu with “Carol Baird Graduate Student Award for Field Research” in the subject line. Awards of up to $22,000 will be made on the basis of merit. Funding may be requested for a single field season or multiple field seasons, and for work at or around a single or several reserves. Support allocations (amount per student, potential for renewal) are flexible, as long as the research is field-based, is of excellent quality, and is substantially improved by this support.

Awardees will be selected by a faculty review committee comprised of the Directors of the UC Berkeley Natural History Field Stations, and will be announced on October 15, 2017.

Graduate student applicants planning to do field work during the fall and spring academic semesters may use the award to cover tuition and fee expenses ($17,654.50 per year in 2017 and rising). Graduate students are not subject to these costs during the summer. Don’t forget to budget for housing, etc. at the field stations where you base your research!

Post Award obligations:

1) Awardees will be required to present their findings to the local community around the field station(s), for example at town meetings or at workshops organized by local conservation, educational, or citizen science groups.  

2) Each awardee must submit a report summarizing their research accomplishments to fieldstations@berkeley.edu by 15 November of the year in which the award was received.  

3) By April 15 of the following year, a fuller report (with full analyses, photos, videos, links, etc.) should be sent to the same email address, fieldstations@berkeley.edu. Both reports will be evaluated by the faculty review committee, and forwarded to the funding Foundation.  

Relevant dates for the 2018 competition:

September 30, 2017:
Applications for the 2018 awards must be received at fieldstations@berkeley.edu.

October 15, 2017:
Awards for 2018 will be announced.

November 15, 2018:
Reports from awardees due, submitted to fieldstations@berkeley.edu with “Carol Baird Graduate Student Award for Field Research” in the subject line. Reports should describe research accomplishments based on the award, including scientific findings, publications, and reports, videos, and links to public workshops, lectures, or presentations.

April 15, 2019:
More complete reports, with manuscript drafts if available, data analyses, photos, videos, and other links should be sent to fieldstations@berkeley.edu with “Carol Baird Graduate Student Award for Field Research” in the subject line.

Edited September 7, 2017 to specify this award is for UC Berkeley graduate students only.